Not Since Prom
by Brochelle
Summary: A series of Half-Life oneshots, written as requests from friends, with multiple crossovers involved. Mostly features Gordon/Alyx shenanigans.
1. Chapter 1

"You wouldn't happen to know how to dance, would you?"

Gordon looked away from the sunset burned red by the heavy, listless banks of smoke. Alyx Vance was clambering over the lip of the rooftop, a small radio cradled in the crook of her arm. He couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at the scene and at her question.

Seeing his expression, she chuckled. She fiddled with a dial on the radio, and soon the distant crackle of anti-aircraft fire was drowned out by the pleasant sound of guitar music. Setting the radio down on the gravel that made up the rooftop, Alyx took a seat next to Gordon on the broken air conditioning unit.

A smile grew unbidden. Leave it to Alyx, in the midst of a broken, wartorn city, to ask him if he knew how to dance. But he shook his head; even if he knew how to dance properly he doubted he would do so now.

While Gordon looked toward the east, toward where the last battle had taken place on the edge of suburbia, he noted in the corner of his eye as Alyx leaned forward to pick up the radio. She began to fiddle with the dial, and was rewarded with different static frequencies. Occasionally a voice managed through the white noise but it was never human - always the Combine Overwatch, issuing out commands in that toneless, robotic voice. Alyx scowled and turned to look at him. Out of reflex he shifted his attention back toward the horizon, rather than meet her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Alyx questioned, one hand leaving the radio and resting on his shoulder.

Gordon shrugged her hand away, shaking his head to indicate that nothing was wrong. Alyx's eyes narrowed in obvious worry, and she pursed her lips; obviously not believing her partner, but not willing to pursue the subject knowing Gordon wouldn't let up. She turned away and focused on the radio, using her thumb to rub away at scuff marks on its white shell. The radio's chatter was the only sound now, punctuated occasionally by small arms fire and grenade blasts on the outer fields of the city.

"You know, my dad used to dance with me."

Gordon offered a slight smile, but it was without warmth, as he was suddenly reminded of the his good friend's untimely death. He stole a glance at Alyx, who was staring down at the radio in her lap, hands clutching the device. Her face was aglow with a smile that had become rare since her father's passing. Seeing her lost in that memory, and not in the more recent one, gave Gordon's slight smile a bit more sincerity.

"I was never tall enough. By the time I was, I didn't - _couldn't_ - dance with him anymore. For… uh, obvious reasons.

"But when I would dance, I'd stand on his toes. Hold onto his arms like any moment I'd be swept away and never come back. Sometimes he'd just pick me up. We'd dance around in the living room."

Gordon pictured the scenario in his head. It was remarkable simple, yet equally unbelievable. Having seen what he had seen over the past couple weeks, the sort of simplistic beauty involved in a dance between a father and daughter seemed intangible and ridiculous.

"Anyway," continued Alyx, the word riding on a sudden sigh, "there's that story. Where I danced with my dad." She lifted her shoulders in a shrug, as if questioning why she'd brought it up.

Gordon looked at Alyx when she coughed and sniffled a bit. Inwardly sighing, he reflected on how much Alyx had lost. He knew Alyx, and he knew the people she'd lost, and somehow that made it so Gordon felt like he'd lost them in a similar way as Alyx had. As he watched her pick at the radio's antennae, he reached a decision.

Gordon suddenly stood up, the air conditioning unit rocking with the movement. He reached down and took the radio from Alyx's hands. He was aware of her confused stare as he moved the dial until he'd found the guitar channel again, but he didn't acknowledge her until he'd turned up the volume and placed the radio on the gravel. Then he held out his hand to Alyx.

It was an awkward dance. A little shuffle from left to right, nothing more. Gordon, suddenly afflicted with what felt similar to how he'd felt in high school, found the sky very interesting, and proceeded to stare at it. Alyx, completely aware of his awkwardness, was laughing the entire time, making it ten times more difficult for Gordon to look at her.

Eventually they sat down because Gordon was giving in to the humor of the situation, and it grew difficult to dance when the two were laughing.

Alyx picked up the radio and lowered the volume, still giggling a little. As the guitar faded away, Gordon became acutely aware of the quieted anti-aircraft fire. The warmth he'd been feeling was evaporating into the rapidly cooling air as he noticed the roaring silence of the city, of the rooftops, of the night. A heavy silence descended upon them.

He felt his legs tense, and the familiar sense of foreboding gripping his mind in quiet panic.

"Gordon?"

He looked sharply at her, startled by the sound, and motioned for her to be quiet. The look of happiness melted from her face and briefly Gordon felt ashamed, but even that sensation fled his senses as a inhuman noise ripped through the city streets below.

Alyx rose and sprinted for the fire escape that she had used to get on the apartment's roof. Gordon followed, and the two slipped back inside the abandoned building. They would hide in one of the rooms, and together they would listen to the screech and howl of angry, hungry creatures waking up. Fighting on the street in the dark would be dangerous. They would have to wait out the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A series of one-shots, each one requested from my Tumblr account. Some crossovers (Portal, Thor, Doctor Who) but not enough to warrant a place in the crossovers section.**

* * *

01. Long Way 'Round

Chell was used to pushing her body to the limits. She was used to going that extra mile, especially if it meant success.

But she could only do it for so long.

She had been running for nearly ten hours. Not constantly, of course - she took breaks frequently, but only when she could tell that no one was following her. Running was painful, but she knew - the way a hunted animal knew - that she had to leave that place, as quickly as she could manage. And if that meant running barefoot through a field of wheat under a glaring sun for hours on end, then that's what she would do. And that's what she did.

But now, her body told her to stop.

Night had fallen, the moon had risen, and Chell could hardly feel her feet anymore. She walked along the edge of an asphalt road that was cracked and nearly shattered from disuse and age, and occasionally she stepped on a bit of gravel or a shard of glass, and she had to stop to pry it out of her skin. Her legs were shaking again, as she had not eaten in God knows how long; not to mention that the lack of adrenal vapor was a shock to her body after the stress of running miles on end.

Her breathing was ragged and she was suddenly very much aware of the emptiness in her stomach. When she sighed, her breathe staggered in her throat. Chell needed rest.

But she couldn't be sure that GLaDOS wasn't following her.

Chell came to a stop. She glanced behind her, looking for her imaginary enemy. Her eyes watered as she strained to look through the darkness.

The former test subject turned left, deviating from the road and heading for the forest the framed her path. She made her way through the foliage, searching for a place to sleep, but finding none immediately, she pressed on through the woods.

She stepped on a dry stick of sorts, and the crack felt like a gunshot, the way it echoed through the silent trees.

Somewhere very close - nearly behind her - something began to shift, and amidst the shuffling of dried pine needles, Chell could hear something muttering. Chell immediately backed away, trying to move away from whatever was making that disturbing nose, when she backed into something _else_.

It was made of metal and it was the same height as her. Chell could hardly move. Was this one of GLaDOS' tricks? _Was this another test? _

The muttering something stood up on awkward legs, hunched and deformed and inhuman. The metal thing behind her shifted and a hand grabbed her shoulder, moving her away from the creature. Chell watched in astonishment as a man - was he made of metal? - hefted a black stick. The end of the stuck erupted in fire and there was a deafening explosion that shattered the eerie calm of the woods.

The muttering something screamed in pain and tumbled to the forest floor.

Chell stared at the metal man as he turned and offered his hand to help her up. His framed glasses caught the moonlight, illuminating his face just enough to show the smallest of smiles.

* * *

02: Birds of a Feather Fight Together

"The ghastly beast dragged itself up from the floor, towering over the Asgardian where he had fallen. Loki stared in horror; this creature was unlike anything he had ever seen before; it was coated in blood and looked like it had vomited upon itself many times over, and a lumpy, parasitic mass clutched to its head in a death grip. As the creature brought up its gory, disfigured claws to strike down Loki, a gunshot rang out and the creature's head exploded in gore, and the lifeless body tumbled onto Loki.

A woman laughed."

Loki blinked quickly. The sound, following the harsh crack of the gunshot, had seemed so out of place in the horrific conditions that he didn't know what to think of it at first. Finally, he located the sound of the outburst; up on the ridge, standing on the concrete lip that overlooked the canal, was a young woman wearing the dirty, simple clothes of this planet. She was far enough away that he couldn't see her direct actions, but Loki could tell she was holstering her weapon and then, with a smile obvious from this distance, waving at him jovially.

Loki realized he was still cowering in the corner and quickly drew himself up before the woman could reach him. It was not likely that he'd let himself be seen in such an ungodly position, especially in front of a human mortal. He brushed himself off and tried to push the memory of the humanoid, bloody creature from his mind. As the woman sprinted closer, Loki fought to regain any sense of composure he could find.

"Hey! I didn't think anyone else was alive down here," the woman shouted as she neared. She trotted up the slope of the canal's convex shape and pulled herself onto the ledge Loki stood. She was young, younger than he thought; her eyes sparkled as she smiled at him with sincere joy. It was slightly disorienting, he realized, with such honest happiness in such a troubling place. Even now he could hear the distant screech of creatures possibly worse than the one he had faced. If he listened harder, he could even fathom to hear gunshots ringing through the crisp, cold air.

He offered the woman a slight smile and allowed a breath to escape his lips. It hung in the air, and did not dissipate for several moments. He noted this with displeasure. There was no wind in this place. The air was as still as a crypt 'neath the ground.

"I am alive," Loki stated quietly. "Though just barely," he added softly, spitefully. The woman gave him a sideways look, and Loki maintained his composure. He held his hand behind his back and straightened up. "And you are, mortal?"

Her eyebrow quirked at the term, but she immediately answered: "Alyx Vance. You might have heard of my dad, Eli." She held her palms open in front of her in a gesture, as though asking him to verify her assumption.

Loki smiled dryly. "Of course. Leader of the rebel forces here on… Earth." His voice caught in his throat. His smile did not falter.

Alyx gave a brief laugh that rang out in the canal. "I don't know how you got here, but we have to leave. Like, right now." Almost on cue, the terrifying howl of something unearthly erupted only a couple yards above them, over the edge of the canal. Loki turned to search for the perpetrator, but watched with interest as Alyx's hand went straight for her holstered sidearm.

"We need to go. Now."

* * *

03: A Doctor in Ravenholm

The relative silence of Ravenholm was abruptly shattered by an odd, rippling explosion. An object, followed by a characteristic scream as it flew through the air faster than the speed of sound, came into view when it smashed through the wooden bell tower of the largest church in the city. It tumbled through the air and slowed just before it crashed through the roof of a building adjacent to the church.

Ravenholm released the breath it had held, and the object was forgotten.

Inside the roof of the adjacent building, where the object had crashed and landed, dislodged shingles fell from the roof and landed with loud claps on the splintered wooden floor and the object itself. Thumps could be heard from within the object quite clearly, and as soon as the dust had settled and the shingles had stopped their fall, the object's door swung open with a bang.

"This is definitely _not _1950's Hollywood."

A head poked out of the door. A woman's head, to be exact. Her long red hair fell over her shoulders and a scarf hung from her neck; she wore a blue, fashionable coat and a skirt with striped tights. Loose boots were on her feet, the laces untied for "style reasons". She was scowling. Her face was hardly discernible in the dark, but her skin was paled considerably by the full moon, whose rays streamed through the hole in the ceiling.

Amy Pond pulled back into the TARDIS and shouted, "I SAID, THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE 1950's HOLLYWOOD!" She then walked out the door and stood outside the TARDIS. She marveled at the sheer size of the building they'd landed in.

Within the TARDIS, which was surprisingly bigger on the inside, a man popped up from behind the large, glistening center piece, where presumably everything about the TARDIS was controlled. The man was tall and lanky, dressed in what would have been fashionable during the late 1920's, and dirtied with soot. As he leaped away from the control panel, it itself exploded and belched black smoke. The Doctor yelped and jumped back from it as it began to hiss and spark at him.

"Well, then what does it _look _like!" he retorted. He ran away from the angry console and nearly sprinted out the door. His foot caught on a board that had been ruptured following the TARDIS' fall, and he stumbled past Amy. He quickly caught himself and stood up straight before anything embarrassing happened.

He straightened his bow tie.

"This looks quite similar to the nineteen hundred's Russia," he mused aloud. Then, as an aside, "Or the planet Mabel during mating season."

"What?" called Amy.

"Nothing, nothing. Now can you find the door? It looks like we're going to have to go downstairs. Now don't question me, I know precisely what I'm looking for."

Amy jogged to catch up to him as his long legs took him to the only exit in the attic. "Oh, and you're going to find TARDIS bits in nineteen hundreds Russia?" she said skeptically.

"Actually, yes. I know a man-"

_Something screamed_.

The Doctor halted, throwing his arms out to stop Amy from walking any further. Everything seemed to stop as Time Lord and girl listened intently. A sudden wind whistled through the boards, and distantly, a cadence of footsteps could be heard upon the roof. Amy's neck cracked as she whipped about to stare at the hole in the ceiling, where the TARDIS had crashed through, totally expecting some bad 80's movie monster to appear. Nothing did, but the footsteps quickened - either that, or there were more of them.

"Doesn't really sound like footsteps," Amy hissed. "More like something's flailing about on the roof."

The Doctor hushed her softly and they listened again.

The footsteps - or the flailing, depends who you are - had ceased.

* * *

04: Calibrations

"These definitely do _not _look calibrated, Ms. Vance." Judith Mossman rose from where she had been hunched over the control panel, examining the younger girl's 'handiwork'. As she brushed herself off, she could hear Alyx sprinting down the rows of silent turbines, her foot steps soft but quite obvious in the quiet room. When the steps slowed, Judith turned to look at Alyx. She crossed her arms.

"I thought you said you fixed up these turbines yesterday," Mossman said, her voice dripping with skepticism. "Now the power's out for the whole facility."

"Well, I DID," Alyx retorted crossly.

Judith gestured at the turbine's generator, held together by duck tape and glue, spitting sparks and hissing. "This does not look calibrated to me."

Alyx _hmmph_ed and crossed her arms, mirroring Judith's pose exactly. The ex-Black Mesa scientist sighed. The fifteen-year-old was stubborn as hell and back, but this was just getting ridiculous. Judith was well aware that Alyx had spent the previous day avoiding her studies and her duties, instead focusing on building that monstrosity of a project, what she called "Dog". It certainly didn't look like a dog in Judith's eyes, and there were definitely more pressing matters to attend than just adding on to an immobile scrap heap. Frowning, Judith thought of Eli and sighed again.

"Do you know how to fix this?" Judith said softly. Her arms loosened a bit, and her pose lost the haughty aura it had taken on.

Alyx nodded fiercely.

"Really?"

Alyx hesitated, then shook her head slowly, looking away from Judith and down at her feet.

"Well," Mossman said with a weary sigh. "We're going to have to teach you, won't we?"

* * *

05: A Long Trek North

"I spy, with my little eye…. something…. _white_."

Gordon removed his glasses and rubbed the ice that had formed on the lenses. He replaced his glasses and sniffed. Looking around, he surveyed the forest dressed in winter's lace; snow hung from every branch and carpeted the ground thickly. His entire _world _was white, he noted with a tiny smile, and he looked to Alyx, who was wearing a big, mischievous grin.

She laughed aloud, the sole noise traveling through the forest quickly and unnervingly. Gordon's heartbeat began to race as he slowed and listened, waiting to hear shifting armor or the sound of boots rushing through the compact, icy snow. Alyx stopped with him and they listened like two prey animals. The only noise that came after a couple of seconds was Alyx, as she laughed into her sleeve. Gordon shot her a look but that only made her laugh harder.

They'd been pushing through the snow for the last couple hours without much rest, and judging by Alyx's behavior she was getting tired. Though most people became irritable when they grew weak, the young woman hit a different stage before that: bubbly.

The change in behavior was a little unsettling for Gordon. He'd come to assume Alyx did have a tendency to be a sort of jokester, but this was something different. Then again, he'd never been in this sort of situation before.

The jerry-rigged radio had spoken of a rebel outpost a couple of piles up the road, but a snow blockage had forced them to abandon their car and go on foot. It was a stupid decision (especially in this kind of weather) but there was no other choice; at least none that Gordon could find. So they had ransacked the car for any sort of warm clothing they could find and they set off, quickly swallowed up by the seemingly endless forest.

Now, as Gordon glanced at Alyx, he noticed things that were now brought to his attention by the harsh, winter sunlight. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles (presumably from her sleepless nights that he had had the misfortune of witnessing) and her skin had grown pallid and sickly. Her nose and cheeks were reddened by the biting cold of the region, and the smile glued to her face began to lose its luster as she realized he was worried, rather than amused by her antics. Frowning, he tightened the scarf around his neck and continued moving, his right hand clutching the car jack he'd managed to find.

Alyx shuffled after him, the laughter from her gone. She was unnaturally quiet for several minutes, her usual happy voice replaced with the soft whisper of the wind through the trees. He was content to listen to it, but Alyx's silence was beginning to concern him, and though he wouldn't admit it, he missed the jokes.

He stopped again, this time to look at Alyx. It disturbed him, deeply; she wasn't like herself at all. Rather a ghost of herself. He knew she was thinking about her father; her consistent silence meant she was either a) tired, or b) thinking.

He didn't want her thinking about what made her sad, because he couldn't bear to see someone like that sad. He sighed deeply.

They continued to walk. The wind picked up and they felt the crisp air through the thick parkas and sweaters. He could feel Alyx shiver and briefly wondered if it were from the cold or from the memories.

The noise started in his throat, but stayed there; it kept the note and held it. The note picked up, rose in pitch, and he could sense Alyx looking at him. But he didn't look at her until he was well into his song; and even then, it was to let her know he was humming for her.

* * *

06: Long Day of Testing

It had been a long day of testing, especially since neither of them were allowed to work together. Gordon trudged down the hall and when he reached his door he slumped against it, no energy left to fumble with the door handle. He closed his eyes, but his needed slumber was abruptly cut off when angry foot steps came into earshot; a warm hand grabbed his and soon he was being dragged off to Alyx's apartment room.


	3. Chapter 3

The roar of the engine echoed through the tunnel, and for a few moments - from the moment the muscle car slid into the darkness, til the second they burst into the sunlight - it was all Gordon was aware of. He blinked away the startling light as they emerged, and took a lungful of the fresh forest air, so different from the listless, dusty scent of City 17.

Honestly, if the pressing need to reach White Forest in time wasn't looming over him, he would have stopped the car and taken a hike through the woods. He would have _appreciated_ the relative serenity of his environment.

Then he glanced to his left as he took a turn down the road, and he caught sight of the sky in turmoil. The twisting, writhing vortex extending from the remains of the Citadel burned into his eyes and he looked away.

So maybe he couldn't appreciate it. Not yet.

A hand suddenly rested on his. He glanced at Alyx in the passenger seat, hoping she didn't notice his face growing hot at her touch. She was smiling and pointing toward a structure Gordon had yet to differentiate from the towering trees that lined the road. It was topped with a blinking red light, and the way it was built suggested it was a-

"It's a radio tower!" Alyx exclaimed. "Maybe we can get in contact with White Forest and warn them about the Combine."

"…Or prank-call Magnusson," Gordon muttered under his breath, humorlessly. Alyx shot him a look and cocked an eyebrow, as if she hadn't heard him right.

Gordon shrugged. It looked like the next tunnel was road-blocked, but a break in the guard rail along the side of the asphalt suggested a different path to take. Plus it went in the general direction of the radio tower. He swerved the car and dove down the steep embankment, crashing into the shallow stream of water below. Frigid water splashed up on either side, thoroughly dousing Alyx but harmlessly trickling off his HEV suit. The young Vance _ugh_-ed in disgust and raised her arms to shake off the water. He offered her an apologetic smile. She rolled her eyes.

Gordon maneuvered the car through the creek, finally angling the vehicle up the steep incline that gradually became a road, once again in the general direction of the radio tower. He glanced at Alyx when he saw her raise her arms. She was pulling the hairband out of her hair and shaking her head in the wind, presumably trying to get the water out.

Gordon almost smashed into the entry gate watching. He swerved to avoid it and grinned sheepishly, in case Alyx was looking. She wasn't.

"So, uh, prank-calling, huh? Did that a lot in college?"

Gordon looked at her, both eyebrows raised and threatening to escape from his forehead. "Yes. I mean, no. No, not at all. I mean my room-mate did but I certainly never did." He laughed abruptly. "That's… juvenile."

Alyx's laughter was loud and clear as a bell toll in the cold air, unaffected by the engine's displeased rumble as they proceeded to climb up the mountain road. "Yeah, right. I believe you."

He huffed. "Well, it's true."

"Right."

"Every word."

She looked at him with a friendly, warm smile that he instinctively tried to reflect, with little success. "I've never heard you talk this much. Or, well, at all."

He offered an indifferent shrug, and mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'do you have Prince Albert in a can'."

They reached the crest of the hill. Three or so buildings, two to the right and a larger one to the left, looked largely abandoned and in various states of decay. Gordon slowed the car in the middle of the dirt road carving through the establishment and eventually cut the engine. The first building looked like it needed the least amount of TLC, and judging by that thick wire extending from a pole in the roof, across the road and to the largest building, this was where the controls were.

While he was looking at the control house, he caught Alyx's glance, which was one that clearly implored his sanity. He matched the expression. "What?"

"'Prince Albert'?" she said with the best 'what the ever-living hell are you talking about' voice he had ever heard.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's just a prank-call joke, you know?"

"Uh. No. Not at all."

He couldn't restrain his own imitation of her expression. "You've never heard that joke."

"Definitely doesn't ring a bell."

Gordon sighed and rested his head in his hands, suddenly realizing that at her age she would have never heard that joke. Or, rather, ever had a chance to execute it. Like he had, in college. Several times.

…A week.

"The joke is, uh, well, it's when you call a store clerk or something and you ask, 'Do you have Prince Albert in a can?'," he explained it carefully and slowly, almost intimidated by Alyx's intense eyes as she stared at him in complete confusion. "And, well, usually the clerk doesn't know what you're talking about, but I can only assume by this point in time he _would _know. It's a pretty old joke."

Alyx narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "What's the punchline?"

"The clerk usually says yes, because they used to sell that kind of stuff in those days, and then you would say, 'Well let him out!'"

Just repeating the joke was making him smile a little, which probably wasn't helping his case at the moment; Alyx was still looking at him as if he had gone mad. He held up his hands in exasperation.

"Let's just go find the radio controls."

He clambered out of the car before Alyx asked him anything else and made a bee-line for the control house. Before he pulled the door open, Alyx spoke.

"Wait, a second. Was Prince Albert an actual historical figure?"

He hesitated. "Uh, yeah. He was. That's what makes the joke funny."

"_Ah_." Alyx nodded in understanding, now smiling as she understood the humor. One of Gordon's eyebrows twitched and he couldn't help but grin a little, too. "I got it," she added. "I see what you did there."

Oddly proud of the fact he'd made her laugh, and that someone actually found his jokes funny, his smile grew genuine. "I mean, it's a pretty old joke. Like, really old. Have you heard of a show called _Monty Python's Flying-_"

"Crap!"

He scowled. "No, that's not how it goes at all-"

Alyx fumbled for her pistol and reached out, pushing Gordon away from the door. "_Headcrab!_" she cried. She fired multiple times (perhaps more times than necessary, Gordon noted as he lay sprawled on the ground) until the creature lay dead.

"_Well_ then," Gordon mumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

"Did you hear that?"

Had they still been in the midst of a firefight, as they had been but a couple moments ago, Gordon would have shot her his best "are you kidding me" look. But they weren't. Instead, they were huddled behind a pile of concrete debris, avoiding the thin beam of blue light that indicated a terribly confident sniper somewhere on the rooftops. And for the past few minutes nothing but eerie silence reigned; nothing but the faint ring of artillery, the distant thud and stutter of small-arms fire, and the far-off shuffle of marching CP officers.

Since they weren't in the midst of a firefight, the look Gordon sent at Alyx was more frantic than he possibly intended. The size of the debris pile didn't leave much room to move, let alone fight. They were in the middle of the road and pinned down by a sniper. Some cocky officer sneaking up on them was probably the worst thing imaginable at this moment.

_Well_, Gordon thought sarcastically, _I could think of worse things_.

He kind of just let that thought go away.

The physicist took a deep breath and exhaled in a frustrated huff. One thing he hated more than anything was being pinned down. Fighting was bad enough. Having to fight your way out of a already bad situation was definitely not at the top of his To Do list.

"We need something to distract him with," Alyx murmured. Gordon suddenly realized how close she was; they were nearly side to side as they knelt behind the debris pile. Either the suit's temperature regulating systems were broken, or the Citadel's irratic behavior was messing with the weather. Either way it was getting hot out here.

Gordon ignored the fact he probably looked silly, the way he was smiling.

"Do you think you could run out there? Distract him while I toss a grenade."

That sobered him up quickly. Alyx didn't really have any armor to speak of, and the thought of her running out there unprotected made his blood run cold. He shook his head slightly and indicated for her to pay attention to him.

She watched him with the most amount of concentration and dedication anyone had ever given him before.

Gordon was put off for a few seconds, staring into her eyes, matching her gaze. Faintly his mind recognized that if this were a movie, this would be the bit where the macho hero and the sassy female companion made out, usually with swooping instrumental music in the background.

His mind casually reminded him that he wasn't macho, and Alyx definitely wasn't the typical female character in those movies. His thoughts deftly skirted that bit about making out.

Shaking himself out of his awkward reverie, Gordon touched the lambda symbol on his chest, then hooked a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing at the hidden sniper. _I go._

He pointed a gloved finger at her, then indicated at the ground.

_You stay_.

Alyx's mouth made a perfect O-shape as she realized what he was saying. She looked concerned, but the only sign he gave that he had noticed her expression was a slight frown. He collected his only weapon - a half-empty submachine gun - and, upon offering a slight, supportive smile in Alyx's direction, dove from their cover.

A sharp crack sounded as the sniper took a shot at him, almost immediately upon his reveal. Gordon hissed as he felt the bolt of contained energy slice through the protective ankle cover on his left leg, nearly burning into his skin. He ignored the far-too-gentle voice of the HEV's suit onboard AI system, reminding him of what he already knew, in favor of getting behind the corner of the building only a few feet from the concrete debris pile. He pressed against the wall and watching the tracking blue laser jerk around the courtyard, searching in vain for some sign of the injured physicist.

Gordon bit his lip to keep from expressing his pain aloud. Sliding down the wall (taking care not to expose his legs to the ticked-off sniper) he reached down and examined his ankle.

The suit was still reciting its little spiel about minor lacerations, reminding Gordon how quickly that had all happened. It didn't look like the sniper's bullet had inflicted too much damage. Honestly it was just a giant paper-cut; the bullet hadn't gotten too close to his skin, thankfully, but the burn would, well, burn for a while.

"_Administering morphine_."

..Or not.

Feeling the faintest bit giddy as a side affect from the drugs, Gordon sat up again and nervously fiddled with his glasses. He noted the dirty smudges on the lenses and was acutely aware of how bothersome that was.

"You still with me?" called out Alyx from the debris pile, sounding a little amused. Gordon glanced in her direction and realized she was watching him. He mentally told the morphine to shut up and nodded in affirmation. Alyx chuckled silently and Gordon couldn't help a smile. Of all people to find him funny…

He picked up the SMG from where he had dropped it to check his suit and checked its armaments. His suit registered two extra grenades attached to the gun's launcher, which was good news for him - judging by the angle of that tracking laser, the sniper was high up, probably in a building. He huffed in exasperation.

He ducked out of cover.

Gordon Freeman raised his gun and followed the laser's beam, searching for the open window where the sniper inevitably hid. The beam angled down sharply and landed on his chest. He could almost sense the sniper pulling the trigger. So he abruptly fired the secondary weapon.

The grenade landed directly within the window and the room beyond, exploding upon contact. Once again, he could almost sense the sniper's fingers fall from the mounted rifle. He watched as his enemy tumbled from the window with a cry of surprise and pain, landed first on a wooden support beam, then on a metal container just below that, and finally landing on the bricked road, limbs splayed in unnatural positions.

_Well, that takes care of that_, he reasoned. He reloaded the SMG and looted the soldier for ammunition, then jogged back to the debris pile. Alyx peeked around the corner and saw him coming, and greeted him with a smile.

"Good job with the sniper!" she congratulated.

Gordon smiled wearily.


	5. Chapter 5

She'd say something witty. "I think I saw this in a Stephen King movie," she'd say, and touch the oily walls of the tunnel with experimenting fingers. The glow from the larvae that clutched to the floors and the ceilings would play with the smooth curves of her face and subtle gold would paint her cheekbones. Gordon would smile for her and she'd smile back, and they would fight their way further into the antlion hive. He wouldn't be scared of dying alone, anymore. He wouldn't feel terror when his footing slipped and he descended into ice cold water that had dripped down through the soil and into the echoing, dripping caverns.

But then again, if Alyx were here, they wouldn't be here.

The antlion queen went thundering past Gordon's hiding place: a partially-collapsed mine shaft full of boulders, splintered wood, and one physicist, wearing a HEV suit and clutching a spent rifle in his shaking hands. He shook from the adrenaline pulsing through his limbs, from when he had been forced to flee from the massive alien creature that now patrolled his hiding place. He had no guns - only a dented, hopeless crowbar, and a gravity gun bumping against his hip - and his health kit was running low on medical supplies. He was hopelessly, totally screwed, and all he could do was imagine if the situation had been any different.

Sweat dripped into his eyes and Gordon rubbed at them fiercely, careful to keep his footing. He wasn't sure if the antlion knew he was in the mine shaft. He wasn't in a huge rush to find out, either.

There was another shaft further up the tunnel. He'd glimpsed it before the roar of the antlion queen had forced him to take immediate refuge. But the antlion queen had gone straight past him, toward the other shaft, and as far as he knew, the tunnel circled back on itself. Making a run for the shaft meant taking off after the antlion and hoping she didn't hear him.

Gordon gulped and repressed a groan.

Alyx wouldn't have given him this long to make a decision. She would have started counting down, and he would have had to either follow her or stay back to die. Most of the time he was smart enough to follow. But this time he didn't have a companion to give him a go-or-die signal.

He waited for the antlion to come around again.

As soon as it started to disappear around the bend, close to his goal, he struggled out of the collapsed mine and started sprinting for the shaft. A switch on his right forearm initiated the adrenaline shot he needed to make the extra couple feet. Just as he was approaching the mine - hell, it was boarded up, he'd have to use the gravity gun - he heard a noise that nearly stopped him in his tracks.

Looming around the corner ahead of him, the antlion reared its great head and launched itself at the man.

Gordon yelped, but didn't stop. The shaft was so close -

The antlion breezed past him as he dove under the lowest board nailed across the mine's entrance. He tumbled and hit the back wall of the mine; swiftly, he drew his feet in from the tunnel. The antlion went roaring past, great feet pounding the ground like an elephant stampede.

Gordon was breathing heavily as he tucked himself in the farthest corner from the boarded up entrance. The tunnel beyond was quiet, but he could hardly tell over the rush of blood in his ears.

He finally noticed there was a hole in the mine shaft, big enough for him to drop through. It was dark and he could hear the faintest of water droplets.

"Ugh," he mumbled, and let his head rest against the wall with a dull thunk.

He really missed Alyx.


	6. Chapter 6

Around noon the wind picked up, tossing loose strands of Alyx's hair in the corner of Gordon's vision. The sky had donned a rich, cobalt and steel color, and low-lying fog ghosted down from the mountains and blanketed the trees that framed the road. The birds stopped singing, and the world held its breath as a storm loomed over the two soldiers.

"Didn't expect this," Alyx murmured. The exposed car engine was rumbling and rattling as they drove, and her voice barely rose above it, yet her words were eerily suspended by the fog. The air was tense and smelled of ozone. Thunder suddenly rumbled, and Gordon felt his heart catch in surprise.

"We get these storms all the time at White Forest. I think we'll be fine. It doesn't usually rain - it isn't the season for that."

Alyx's voice lacked the confidence that Gordon needed to hear. He had been through hell today - fighting alien monsters, battling the laws of physics to get a car, almost having his brain sucked out - and the last thing he needed was rain.

The moment he thought of it, a fat drop of it splashed against his forehead.

He couldn't help the exasperated sigh. Alyx chuckled, patting his armored shoulder in sympathy.

"Alright, sometimes it does rain. Sorry about that."

Thunder rolled and crackled high above them, and the wind began to force the firs and pines into a vicious, exotic, waving dance. The roar of the engine was nothing compared to the roar of a pulsating forest. Leaves and debris were swept across their path, a few spare, torn leaves plastering to his face as he sped forward. Rain splashed against the dashboard and soaked his hair, and began to hide the forest in a thin veil of moisture as more rain fell, until it drowned out everything with its clamoring.

Gordon slowed the car as a sudden wave of rain poured over them, and finally obscured the road entirely. Wind was buffeting them and rain was pelting them, and somewhere thunder was crashing into the clouds, and Alyx was laughing.

"I fail to see what's funny about this!" Gordon bellowed, his voice a dull whisper above the cacophony.

"We've been through so much today!" Alyx shouted back. "Hell, I died today! I was dead!"

Gordon would have gaped if it didn't mean choking on the rain.

"And?"

"It's pouring rain. The universe actually has the gall to spit at us, after today. I can't believe this!"

She began laughing again, and Gordon feared for her sanity. The storm was not letting up, so he resolved to park somewhere and wait it out. Out of the mist, the dark, gaping hole of a tunnel entrance appeared, and Gordon sped down the soaked road to reach it.

Alyx's laughter was clearer as the drew into the tunnel. Lightning flashed, briefly lighting up the plain, old tunnel walls, and his companion's rain-soaked face, split in a smile that caught the lightning's flare.

Finally, she stopped chuckling, and her giggles disappeared into the depths of the tunnel.

"Are you done over there?" Gordon asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Alyx mumbled. Her grin faded. She wiped away at her eyes, and gave a final giggle. "Yeah, okay, I'm done."

Behind them, the rain relented, and the trees calmed. Thunder rolled in the distance as the storm moved away from them. The thick clouds that had dominated the sky were splitting, revealing a brilliant, blue sky. Birds began to sing, and Gordon smiled broader.

"That was a great storm," he commented. "Haven't seen something like in…"

He knew Alyx was watching him.

"…a little while."

His companion released the breath she had been holding and looked away. "I bet."

The storm returned suddenly, throwing the forest into a new turmoil. Wind entered the tunnel and blew coldly into Gordon's face as he turned to look, chilling his soaked skin and hair.

"Jesus, that's cold."

"And it isn't even winter, yet," Alyx added cheerfully. "Winter's storms are an…. enlightening experience."

Gordon smirked, lost in thought as he stared at the road behind him. Sitting in the chair like he was was not comfortable, but it was human discomfort - not like having a bullet shred through his side, or being tasered - and he was fine with it. Alyx twisted in the passenger seat and rested her chin on her arm. Gordon mimicked the movement. A content sigh escaped his throat.

"There was a while back there, I didn't think I was going to experience something like that again."

Gordon moved slightly, staring at Alyx curiously. "Like-?"

"That storm. Not that storm in particular. But you know. Just things."

"Oh."

"I thought I was going to die."

"…Oh. Yeah. I guess that could have happened."

"Thanks, by the way."

Gordon turned around in his seat, and started up the car again. "Oh? For what?"

"Well, I didn't die, for one. You were kind of in charge of that."

Alyx turned around and put her seatbelt on. The click of the mechanism echoed in their little segment of the tunnel.

"Well, ah," Gordon managed. The car's engine howled to life. He pressed the accelerator and they jolted forward. "I'm glad to help."

Alyx laughed.


End file.
